When entering residences and commercial venues, there is an ever growing need to clean the feet of residents and visitors. Occupants of residences continually need to make sure that visitors' and residents' feet and shoes are clean before entering to prevent dirty carpets and flooring. The same holds true with many commercial venues, especially commercial livestock and agriculture enterprises which are subject to diseases that can be transmitted to the livestock or plants by visitors.
Additionally, there is a growing need for people to become more aware of their own and visitors' personal hygiene. We are constantly reminded of how important it is to wash our hands as often as possible, and with the advent of impending pandemic problems, such as Avian Flu, people must also be aware of their wearing apparel and especially their footwear. Too often, the waters at our beaches are so contaminated that a warning is given against entering the water which is bacteria or debris laden and can make swimmers sick. Walking on the same beach, even if entering the water is avoided, will still impart bacteria from the water to the feet or footwear. Additionally, in agriculture and farming, a person walking on a farm that has a diseased animal or crop can contract bacteria, viruses, or plant diseases to their feet or footwear which can easily be transported to another farm or agriculture venue by the infected person. Thus, it has become apparent that diseases can be transmitted equally by our feet as well as by our hands. Consequently, cleaning and disinfecting our feet as well as our footwear is vitally important.
For those adults and children wading in the waters at the beach rinsing off the sand with fresh water may not be adequate. One of the most effective and economical disinfecting fluids is the chlorine bleach used for washing clothes in a dilute with water.
In farming and agriculture, workers in the agricultural field are constantly walking in fertilizers and insecticides, which cling to their feet and can impregnate their footwear. Working with animals creates additional problems where individuals are required to walk through fresh feces that can cling to their footwear. A paramount occurrence which has made people more aware of this problem has been the recent headlines regarding Avian Flu and the potential disasters that it may cause a human pandemic in addition to the millions of bird deaths. The poultry industry has been greatly affected by this potential problem.
A simple mixture of disinfectant washed over the feet and/or footwear of workers and visitors to farms, greenhouses, and animal raising venues can remove germs, viruses, and other contaminants before they are transported. Further, if every farm and agriculture venue required visitors and workers to clean footwear before entering and on leaving, the transport of such contaminants from one farm to another can be eliminated or significantly reduced.
Unlike many Eastern cultures, Americans are not accustomed to removing their shoes before entering homes, offices, medical facilities, etc. A quick wipe on a doormat will only clean so much and has no disinfecting capabilities, leaving the floors and carpets to absorb what is left on the soles of the shoes or from the bare feet. The door mat itself can become a central point in actually infecting visitors since numerous visitors actually wipe their feet and leave germs, viruses and the like on the mat for the next person to encounter. Vacuuming the carpets where children often play cannot adequately remove all the bacteria, germs, and dirt which the mat misses and which can filter deep into the floor coverings. Because of this lack of hygiene on entry to homes and businesses, to be fully protected floors must be mopped with a disinfectant and carpets steam cleaned often to kill or remove contaminants missed at the door. In medical facilities shoe coverings are worn in operating rooms, but in moving around the hospital from room to room medical personnel have the potential of carrying infectious materials from one place to another on their shoes.
While the prior patents and prior art systems have been successful to a certain extent, it is nonetheless clear that substantial room exists for affecting an advance in the art which overcomes these shortcomings in a practical and efficient manner. Recent health issues have made the field of cleanliness and disinfecting a very high priority in the minds of most people.